Bolster.



No, 743,451. PATENTED, NOV. 10, 1903.

A'. CHRISTIANSON.

BOLSTER.

APPLIOAT ION FILED JUNE 9, 1902.-

H0 MODEL 2 SHEETS-SHEBT l.

alt tonne PATENTED NOV. 10, 1903.

A. GHRISTIANSON.

BOLSTER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9, 1902.

2 sums-sum 2.

110 MODEL.

(inventor NITED STATES ANDREW *CHRISTIANSON, or

STANDARD STEEL CAR COMPANY, OF CORPORATION on PENNSYLVANIA.

PATENT OFFICE.

YBOLSTEUR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 743,451, dated November 10, 1903.

Application filed June 9, 1902- To all whom) it mag concern:

Be it known that LANnRnw CHRISTIANSON, a resident of Allegheny, in the county of Alleghen y and State of Pennsy1vani'a,haveinvented a new and usefullmprovementin Bolsters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention .relatesto bolsters for rail- Way-cars; and its object is to provide a con IO struction adapted either for a body orfoia truckbolster in which the members are so shaped that they can be united by machineriveting and so that the metal can be easily distributed to meet any required stresses.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a truck-bolster constructed according to my invention. view of the same. Fig. 3 is a central transverse section thereof. Fig. 4 is an end view of the same. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a bodybolster constructed according to my invention. Fig. 6'is aside view of the same. .Fig.

7 is a central transverse section thereof. Fig.

8 is an end view of the same, and Fig. 9 is a 5 side view showing a modification.

My improved bolster comprises two side members l,Z-shaped in cross-section and preferably of 1 varying depth, as shown, being greatest at the center and decreasing'toward c the ends.- This varying depth may be socured either by having the top edges straight and the bottom edges curved, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, or by having both edges curved,

as shown in Fig. 9. I It might also be secured 5 by having the bottom edges straight and the top edges only curved. These side members are formed, preferably, by pressing metal plates to shape. They are placed parallel, with one flange of each member projecting 40 toward each other and the other flanges of said members projecting away from each other or ,ontwardly. Preferably the lower flangeswill project toward each other and the upper flanges awayfroin each other, as

5 shown; but this arrangementis not essential.

Riveted to the bottom flanges is the bottomv cover-plate 3, and riveted to the top flanges is the top cover-plate 4. When assembling the parts, the cover-plate secured to the inwardly-projecting flanges of the side 'mem- Fig. 2 is a side Serial No. 110,816. -(No model.)

bers will be first riveted thereto, and this can be done by machinery. The other coverplate is then riveted to the outwardly-projecting flanges of the side members, and this riveting also can be done by machinery, so that the expense of uniting the parts is reduced to a minimum. v

A center brace 6 is placed between the side,

top. and bottom members and suitably se-- cured in placeas, for instance, by being riveted to the side members. This center brace will be of various shapes, depending upon the character of the bolster, two such shapes being. shown in Figs. 2 and 5, respectively. In the case of the truck-bolster the center bearing-plate 8 and side bearings 9. are riveted to the top cover-plate, and column-guides 10 are riveted to the side members, near the ends thereof. In the case of the bod y-bolster the center bearing-plate and side bearings are riveted to the bottom coverplate and the column-guides are omitted. If the truckbolster is to be used on trucks having the columns close together, the outwardly-projecting flanges of the side members-will be cut away at theends thereof, as shown, and thecoverplate, which is riveted thereto, will extend only to the cut-away portions, so that the column-guides will project beyond the sides of the bolster without being made of very great thickness. End braces 12, preferably formed of cast metal,are placed between the side members and riveted thereto. In the case of the body-bolster the bottom cover plate will preferably be made of varying width, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and the cover-plate will project beyond the edges of the bolster and will be bent to form brackets 13 to support the sides of the car.

\Vith either form of my bolster no special shapes except the side members are required, and these are comparatively simple, so that they can be made cheaply. All of the other parts are standard commercial articles and flat p1ates,and the parts are so arranged thatthey can be assembled without the necessity of hand-riveting. The cover-plate 3 maybe made of any width or thickness to suit special condition s. By making it narrow and comparatively thick the width of the bolster at the bottom may be decreased to fit the somewhat-restricted space afforded by the spring-plank in certain trucks, and at the same time the extrathirknessprovides sufficient area of cross-section to resist safely the stresses induced. For any reasonable width of member 3 a suitable thickness of metal may be selected to adjust the position of the center of gravity and the neutral axis of the bolster to produce a properdistribution of the stress andthe most economical utilization of the metal. This is a new feature of bolster construction, and for this function the bolster comprises a top member composed of the sides 1 and top cover-plate Land a bottom member composed of the Hat plate 3.

Whatl claim as my invention. and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A car-bolster comprising two Z shaped side members of varying depth, top and bottom cover-plates secured to the flanges thereof, and a center brace placed between said side members andsccured thereto 2. A car-bolster comprising twoZ-shaped side members-oi varying depth, top and bottom cover-plates secured to the flanges thereoi, the outwardly -projccting flanges of the side members and the cover-plate secured bolster, and column-guides secured to the side members near the ends thereof.

3. A car-bolster comprising two Z-shaped side members of varying depth arranged with. their Webs placed vertically and their lower flanges projecting inwardly and their upper flanges projecting outwardly, top and bottom cover-plates secured to the flanges thereof,

secured toone of said cover-plates.

4. A car-bolster comprising two Z-shaped side members of varying depth, top and bottom cover-plates secured -to the flange'sthereof, and a center brace and end braces placed between said side members and secured thereto.

side members of varying depth a top coverplate secured to the upper flanges thereof, and a bottom cover.- plate of varying width secured to the lower flanges thereof.

In testimony svhereof I, the said ANDREW CHRISTIANSON,-h&te hereunto set my hand.

' ANDREW .CHRIS'IIANSON. \Vitnesses:

WM. BIERMAN, ROBERT C. TO'ITEN.

5. A car-bolster comprising two Z-shaped thereto being cut away at the ends of the and a center bearing-plate and side beerings 

